Flexible hinge assembly

ABSTRACT

A flexible hinge assembly including first and second frame members pivotally connected by a flexible pin.

Wired States Patent 11 1 Sahel Oct. 29, 1974 FLEXIBLE HINGE ASSEMBLY 1,743,492 1/1940 Sipe 287/2092 E 2,304,705 12 1942 Pate 108/135 [76] Inventor Robe" SW91 1206 colqutt 2,607,411 8/1952 Van V|iet.1..... [6/150 Houston, 77006 2,722,970 11/1955 Stechmann..... 248/1882 3,128,120 4/1964 Fournier et al. [6/150 [22] 1972 3,445,052 5 1969 Lewallen 16 1310v 13 [21] Appl. No.: 215,313 3,452,663 7/1969 Machtig 248/1882 52 U.S. c1. 16/150 312/234 Gilliam 51 int. ..F:05d 7/00 [58] Field 61 Search 16/169, 168, 150, 181, Attorney Agent or &

16/180, 178, 179; 248/243, 188; 312/234 [56] Rf C. d 57 ABSTRACT e erences I e A flexible hinge assembly including first and second UNITED STATES PATENTS frame members pivotally connected by a flexible pin. 1,393,012 10/1921 Dilg 248/243 1,723,306 8/1929 Sipe 287/2092 E 8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures FLEXIBLE HINGE ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The field of this invention is pivotally mounted assemblies.

2. Description of the Prior Art An essential tool to those in architecture, design engineering and drafting is the drafting table. An important feature of such drafting tables is that the drawing board be adjustable to any inclination in order to provide individual comfort for each user. In order to make a drawing board adjustable, the hinge mechanism utilized should pivotally connect the drawing board to the drafting table frame such that the drawing board is pivotal to any inclination. Further, such a hinge mechanism should be able to support the weight of the drawing board at any angle of inclination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hinge assembly is provided for pivotally connecting members such as the supporting frame and drawing board of a drafting table. The hinge assembly is a flexible pin of Teflon or similar material which is inserted into slots or recesses in the supporting frame and drawing board such that the flexible .pin bends and yieldably supports the drawing board at various angles of inclination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of a drafting table in the preferred embodiment of this invention; and

HO. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the flexible connecting pin which supports the drawing board for pivotal movement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawing, a drafting table D is illustrated in FIG. 1 and includes a supporting frame generally designated as 10 which supports a drawing board 11 for pivotal movement to virtually any angle of inclination by means of flexible hinge assemblies generally designated as 12. The support frame 10 includes four steel legs 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d which are generally X-shaped. The steel legs 10a and 10d are joined by a rod 14 which is welded or otherwise attached to the legs 10a and 10d and, the legs 10b and 100 are joined in a similar manner by rod 14a. A wooden support beam 15 is mounted onto upper horizontal portions 16 and 17 of the legs 10b and 10a, respectively, by any suitable means such as screws (not shown). Another wooden beam 18 is mounted onto upper horizontal portions 19 and 20 of the steel legs 10c and 10d, respectively, such that the wooden beams 15 and 18 cooperate with the legs la, b, 10c and 10d to provide a sturdy supporting frame 10 for the drafting table D.

Adjustable push rod assemblies 21 and 22 are mounted onto the wooden support beam and attached to the bottom 11a of the drawing board 11 in order to cooperate with the flexible hinge means 12 to support the drawing board 11 at various angles of inclination. The push rod locking mechanism 21 includes a push rod 23 which is pivotally mounted to a clamp 24 by means of pin 25. The clamp 24 is attached by screws 26 to the bottom Ila of the drawing board 11. A locking mechanism 27 is mounted onto end 15a of the wooden support beam 15 by any suitable means such as screws (not shown) and includes a threaded shaft 28 which is threadably mounted onto housing 29 of the locking mechanism 27. The threaded shaft 28 has a knob 30 mounted thereon such that the shaft 28 may be hand rotated into engagement with the push rod 23 in order to hold the drawing board 11 at any particular position. The push rod locking mechanism 22 is identical to the push rod locking mechanism 21 except that it is mounted onto end 15b of the wooden support beam 15 in order to support the opposite side of the drawing board 11; the push rod locking mechanism 22 will not be defined in further detail since it is identical to the push rod locking mechanism 21.

The flexible hinge means 12 extends between the wooden beam 18 and cleats 32a and 32b, which are beams mounted by screws or other suitable means, to the bottom 11a of the drafting table 11. Since the flexible hinge means 12 mounted in the cleats 32a and 32b are identical, only the flexible hinge means 12 mounted in cleat 32a as illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described in detail.

The flexible hinge means 12 includes a cylindrical pin 30 of a resilient material such as Teflon, Nylon or Neoprene which is mounted in a recess 18a in the wooden beam 18 and in a recess 31 in the cleat 32a. The recesses 18a and 31 are cylindrical holes which mount the flexible pin 30 in such a manner that the flexible pin 30 may slide with respect to the walls of the recesses 18a and 31 as the drafting table 11 is pivoted about the flexible hinge means 12. The flexible pin 30 is held in the recesses 18a and 31 by the weight of the drawing board 11, which acts transversely to the longitudinal axis of the pins, and yields or bends as the drawing board 11 is pivoted either upwardly or downwardly. Further, the.

flexible pin 30 is made of tough, resilient material such as Teflon or Nylon, such that the flexible pin 30 cooperates with the push rod locking mechanisms 21 and 22 to support the drawing board 11 at almost any angle of inclination.

The recesses 18a and 31 are slightly larger in diameter than the pin 30 such that the pin 30 will slidably move with respect to one or both of the recesses 18a and 31 as the drawing board is raised and lowered.

An advantage of the use of the flexible pins 30 mounted for slidable movement within the recesses 18a and 31 is that the drawing board 11 may be easily connected and disconnected from the supporting frame 10 simply by lifting the drawing board 11 and thus the cleats 32a and 3212 out of engagement with the pin 30 of both flexible hinge means 12. In order to pivotally mount the drawing board 11 onto the support frame 10 by the two flexible hinge means 12, it is a simple matter to insert the flexible pins 30 in recesses such as 18a in the wooden supporting beam 18 and then to simply lower the drawing board 11 in such a manner that the recesses 31 in the cleats 32a and 32b of the drawing board 11 are aligned with the pins.

During the actual operation and use of the drafting table D of this invention, the two flexible hinge means 12 will operate satisfactorily over long periods of use without any danger of the flexible pins 30 becoming disengaged from either the recesses 18a in the wood support beam 18 or from the recesses 31 in the cleats 32a and 32b. The pins 30 remain firmly in the recesses 18a and 31 because the weight of the drawing board 11 itself actually produces a downwardly acting vertical force component which drives the pins 30 into both the recesses 18a and 31 as well as in a horizontal force component which pushes the pins 30 against the sides of the recesses 18a and 31. In this manner extremely reliable flexible hinge means 12 are provided by the flexible pins 30 and, the flexible hinge means 12 may be easily assembled and disassembled whenever desired.

Referring to the flexible hinge means of FIG. 2, another aspect of this invention, an upper portion 30a of the flexible pin 30 which extends into the recess 31 in the cleat 32a may be glued into the recess 31 such that there is no relative movement between the flexible pin 30 and the cleat 320 as the drawing board is tilted upwardly and downwardly. With this arrangement, lower portion 30b of the flexible pin 30 slides with respect to recess 18a in the wooden support beam 18 as the drawing board is tilted upwardly and downwardly. As a corollary, the lower portion 30b of the flexible pin 30 may be fixedly attached within the recess 18a such that slidable movement is accomplished between the upper portion 300 of the flexible pin 30 and the cleat 32a as the drawing board 11 is tilted upwardly and downwardly.

ln the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is appreciated that there are actually two flexible hinge means 12 which support the drawing board 11. In another aspect of this invention, a single flexible hinge means 12 may be utilized to support a drawing board such as 11, but perhaps of a smaller size. The advantage of using a single flexible hinge means 12 is that not only can such a smaller drawing board or other surface be tilted upwardly and downwardly, but such a drawing surface can also be swiveled or rotated with respect to a base frame at the sametime.

In another aspect of this invention, additional recesses such as 33 and 34 may be provided in the cleats 32a and 32b so that the height of the drawing board 11 may be increased by mounting the flexible pin 30 of each of the flexible hinge means 12 in the recesses 34. In a similar manner, the height of the drawing board 11 may be lowered by mounting the flexible pins 30 in the recesses 33 in each of the cleats 32a and 32b.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape and materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the recesses such as 18a are shown drilled into the wooden support beam 18. A sheet metal support beam may be utilized instead of the wooden support beam 18 and in this case, a receiving cup having a cylindrical recess therein may be mounted into the sheet metal beam to receive the flexible pin 30. [t

is understood that the recess 31 may be in the drawing board 11 rather than in the cleats 32a and 32b, providing, of course, that the drawing board is sufficiently thick. Further, the flexible pin 30 can be used to support any two members which have recesses such as 18a and 31 therein.

I claim:

1. A flexible hinge assembly comprising:

a. a first frame member;

b. a second frame member;

c. flexible connecting means for pivotally connecting said first and second frame members and yieldably supporting said first frame member in adjustable pivoted positions with respect to said second frame member; said flexible connecting means including a flexible pin having end portions extending into engagement with said first and second frame members;

e. mounting means in said first and second frame members for mounting said flexible pin with said first and second frame members; and

f. said mounting means including slidable mounting means in at least one of said frame members for receiving one of said flexible pin end portions and for permitting sliding movement of said received end portion with respect to said slidable mounting means in response to pivotal movement of said frame members, whereby said flexible connecting means bends and slides as said first and second frame are pivoted with respect to each other and provides support for said first frame member in a pivoted position.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said mounting means in said first and second frame members mounts said flexible pin loosely whereby said frame members are easily removed from engagement with said flexible pin.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said mounting means includes recesses in said first and second frame members for mounting said flexible connecting means.

4. The structure set forth in claim 1, including:

said flexible connecting means being Nylon.

5. The structure set forth in claim 1, including:

said flexible connecting means being Teflon.

6. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes:

a fixed means in said first frame member for fixably attaching said flexible connecting means with said first frame member.

7. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said flexible pin has substantially uniform dimensions along its entire length.

8. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said flexible pin is cylindrical in shape. 

1. A flexible hinge assembly comprising: a. a first frame member; b. a second frame member; c. flexible connecting means for pivotally connecting said first and second frame members and yieldably supporting said first frame member in adjustable pivoted positions with respect to said second frame member; d. said flexible connecting means including a flexible pin having end portions extending into engagement with said first and second frame members; e. mounting means in said first and second frame members for mounting said flexible pin with said first and second frame members; and f. said mounting means including slidable mounting means in at least one of said frame members for receiving one of said flexible pin end portions and for permitting sliding movement of said received end portion with respect to said slidable mounting means in response to pivotal movement of said frame members, whereby said flexible connecting means bends and slides as said first and second frame are pivoted with respect to each other and provides support for said first frame member in a pivoted position.
 2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein: said mounting means in said first and sEcond frame members mounts said flexible pin loosely whereby said frame members are easily removed from engagement with said flexible pin.
 3. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein: said mounting means includes recesses in said first and second frame members for mounting said flexible connecting means.
 4. The structure set forth in claim 1, including: said flexible connecting means being Nylon.
 5. The structure set forth in claim 1, including: said flexible connecting means being Teflon.
 6. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes: a fixed means in said first frame member for fixably attaching said flexible connecting means with said first frame member.
 7. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein: said flexible pin has substantially uniform dimensions along its entire length.
 8. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein: said flexible pin is cylindrical in shape. 